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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sweet and Crispy Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Grilled Corn on the Cob

Tonight was my first time cooking on the grill this season! We won't talk about how I wasn't paying attention when I was cooking my chicken on some maple planks and accidentally started it on fire *gasp*. I guess next time I will make sure to not leave it unattended and keep a closer eye on the temperature. grrrrr! It all worked out in the end anyways and I got a good laugh out of it.

I had some really good looking tomatoes in the fridge and decided that I should roast them up! They turned out amazing!! Roasted tomatoes are super sweet and delicious on their own, but when you add Panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese to the mix it is out of this world!

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Not only does this help with texture, but it also makes a little well for the panko and parmesan.

Drizzle the tomatoes with a little olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper and a little Italian seasoning (you don't need to measure it, just give it a little dusting).

Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 10 minutes. While the tomatoes are roasting, add the panko to a small dish with two tablespoons of olive oil and stir to combine. Top each tomato half with one tablespoon of the panko mixture, return the pan to the oven and roast for an additional 10 minutes.

Now you can give them each a little pinch of parmesan cheese and stick them back in the oven for about 2 minutes to let the cheese melt.

Now let's talk about corn on the cob for a second. I know that a lot of people boil it on the stove, but I have always cooked my corn this way and it comes out really good! This is in no way a "recipe", but I thought I'd share.

Soak the corn on the cob in a sink of cold water for a minimum of one hour. You MUST do this. If you don't your corn will start on fire and that would not be a good thing! After the corn has soaked you can put it on the grill over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Occasionally give it a turn on the grill, but it is essentially zero maintenance.

The outside will look pretty charred, but the corn on the inside is perfectly beautiful and is steaming away in there! If you aren't sure if it is done you can just poke at it with your fingertip (carefully of course) and see if it feels like it has softened up. Once it is done, take it off the grill and let it cool down in the husks for a few minutes. You don't want to burn yourself while you peel them off. I usually just take a nice sharp knife and cut both end of the corn off and the husk can easily come right off with little effort. This also leaves a nice smooth surface to stick the corn holders in the ends of the corn. Now just give it a little butter, salt and pepper and enjoy!

I served these with some BBQ chicken. No recipe for this chicken, it was just store bought BBQ sauce with some added minced garlic. I seared both sides for 2 minutes and then cooked it over a very low heat on the grill for about 35 minutes.